Gulf of Mexico oil spill
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The Climate Post: Defining moment still seeks definition
First things first: Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman last week unveiled their draft energy and climate legislation, called the American Power Act, in a Senate committee room overstuffed with lobbyists, policy wonks, journalists, and other observers. The bill’s authors must steer it through the “usual” complexity intrinsic to the climate debates, and now too […]
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BP cover-up begins to unravel
UPDATE: BP finally admits its 5,000 barrels per day estimate lowballs the spill. If BP America’s president can’t say for sure the BP oil spill isn’t gushing 70,000 barrels per day, how can we trust BP’s official estimate that it’s actually spilling 5,000 barrels per day? After testifying before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee […]
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BP disaster investigation must be free, clear, and complete
President Obama is likely to sign an executive order sometime during the next several days that would create an independent commission to investigate the causes behind the tragic BP oil disaster. A thorough independent investigation is essential to understand what caused the explosion that cost 11 workers their lives, and what led to the failure […]
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‘Too big to fail’ isn’t working out in the energy world either
There’s an interesting debate going on right now over whether to raise the liability cap on oil companies drilling offshore, and if so by how much. Just last week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) blocked an attempt to raise it from $75 million to $10 billion. Yesterday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) blocked another attempt. (In related […]
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Robert Redford and green groups tell Obama to step up on Gulf oil leak
Whither Obama? There’s a growing chorus calling for the president to show leadership on the BP oil disaster by connecting it to America’s fossil-fuel dependence and the potential of clean-energy investment. “The silence from the White House is deafening,” a Clinton-era White House aide told ClimateWire. “Clearly without a White House push there does not […]
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Friedman nails Obama for his timid response to the “environmental 9/11”
As I’ve written before, one of the most baffling things about the BP Gulf oil disaster has been the Obama administration’s flaccid response. They’re doing everything they can to contain the spill, but they also seem to be doing everything they can to contain the American people’s anger. There’s been no effort whatsoever to channel […]
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Big Oil’s friends on Capitol Hill block spill liability increase
These are tough times for buddies of Big Oil on Capitol Hill. How do you stand by your men amid photos of thick pools of oil lapping into the marshes of southern Louisiana and more video of BP pipes gushing oil? But love, as always, finds a way. In the Senate, fossil-fuel fans James Inhofe […]
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We should totally nuke the oil spill
According to a Miami Herald opinion writer, one thing that’s getting in the way of stopping the oil spill is our emotional attachment to the Gulf ecosystem. And food. So we should nuke it. Which is kind of like microwaving, but safer, because the Russians do it all the time. Or so says an expert. […]
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Obama’s ocean chief dismisses loop current threat: ‘Very little tarballs!’
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Yesterday, Obama’s ocean chief said that the threat of the BP oil disaster getting caught in the Loop Current “sounds scarier than it is.” As she was making these statements, satellites imagery showed the Maryland-sized slick being entrained in the Loop Current, which loops through the Gulf of Mexico and […]
